Looks like Zune HD supports apps too

I'm dying to write about the Zune HD, but here's a bit more info in the build-up to the product's September launch: It will indeed support an applications and an app store, thus removing its one remaining competitive shortcoming with the iPod touch:

Did you happen to make it into a select few Best Buy stores over the weekend? If so, did you get a chance to stare at/touch/play with a Zune HD? We certainly hope so. But! If you didn’t get that great of an opportunity, then it looks like a video might just have to cut it for now. And why is this video so amazing, other than giving you another look at the sexy piece of gadgetry? It shows off the Marketplace on the device, and then right there, smack-dab in the middle: Apps.

We’ve got job postings, and developers of competitive products saying they’re being enticed with money to come on over to Microsoft’s team, and finally XNA creators meant for the Zune that combine to tell us (and everyone else, we imagine) that Microsoft pans on being in the applications development bandwagon, and not simply for their Windows Mobile products. So, with help from third-party developers, it’s pretty safe to assume that Microsoft is setting up the new Zune HD as a legitimate iPod Touch competitor, and for most, the applications that Microsoft plans to have on that said device will really decide that impending war.

I guess this is cool, personally apps are not a considerion for me when I buy a PMP. Apparently, however, for iPhone owners its all that matters.
That being said, I hope that they sell these things on the Zune Pass subscription. Ideally, with a Zune Pass you would get a certian number of apps a month from your subscription and not have to pay $0.99 or whatever.

I hope it doesn't take them too long to ship the HD in Canada. I'm close enough to the US that it would be an hour drive tops to get one however I wanna be covered by warranty given Microsoft's hardware track record.
They better hope that Apple doesn't make the iPod Touch too attractive on the 9th. A 220$ iPod Touch with 16GB storage and a 3.0 Megapixel camera would be highly tempting...

I find it interesting to note that the Apple Fanatics here haven't been justifying why the 16GB iPod Touch is worth a 36% Apple Tax and the 32GB iPod Touch is worth a 38% Apple Tax.
After all, their devices of choice don't have OLED screens, the very cool Tegra chipset, equivalent HD video out, the HD Radio (or any radio, for that matter), Zune Pass, or, or, or...
But, I guess paying nearly 40% more for old technology and a poor excuse for a media pricing model is just what they're used to so they don't know to expect better treatment.

chipwinter
Gee, that post looks familiar...
(And still isn't answered)
btw: I saw the Zune HD over the weekend at the Best Buy roadshow and it really is even nicer in person. The OLED screen is just breathtaking.

Even assuming I liked the iPhone/iPod Touch, the biggest weakness is the pathetic screen that Apple continues to ship these devices with.
Even accepting that OLED is a bridge too far, a higher resolution screen wouldn't go astray. The latest WinMo devices with 800x480 resolutions just blow the Apple crap away.
As for the Zune, I really wish Microsoft would get its act together and ship these devices internationally. It is quite surprising that the biggest software manufacture in the world can't organise a global launch of it's premier media device. You can't get global mindshare if your sole outlook is limited to the United States.

"I'm close enough to the US that it would be an hour drive tops to get one however I wanna be covered by warranty given Microsoft's hardware track record."
Don't worry: the SoC is made by NVIDIA, the maker of quality notebook video chipsets. :P
"personally apps are not a considerion for me when I buy a PMP. Apparently, however, for iPhone owners its all that matters."
Apple, known for not reinventing the PMP with the iPod touch, but instead, breathing a few last gasps into the already-dead PDA market.

"Apple, known for not reinventing the PMP with the iPod touch, but instead, breathing a few last gasps into the already-dead PDA market."
Wow. I used to think you were just a fanboi, but now I realize you're a delusional fanboi as well.

"Gee, that post looks familiar...
(And still isn't answered)"
I love that you guys want to compare an announced, but not shipping, "Zune" with the Apple products that are one generation back.
Once the Zune HD and and the new iPods ship, then we can compare.
Of course, you want to compare an unshipping Zune with the current iPods, because if you compare what Apple and Microsoft are actually shipping, the iPod slaughters the Zune. That's the way it has been since the Zune was announced; it's always 2 generations behind the iPod. In that sense, the ZHD may be a success, since it looks like it will only be one generation behind the new iPod Touch.

Everyone is interested in "IF" the ZuneHD will support apps... I have to ask, did everyone forget about the original Zunes' native support of the XNA?
The previous Zunes app games using XNA. From what I've read the XNA was made for coding across 3 platforms, xbox360, PC, and zune.
Being that the new zune still has WinCE under the hood. I would suspect that the answer to, "Will the ZuneHD have apps?" was know a long time ago, Yes. But if they would implement and ditribute them better than the original zunes.
Frankly, the distribution of apps on the previous zunes was really bad and confusing. Though I did find some home built XNA apps that were great!

While this is nice for the Zune HD, its 15 minutes too late. The word "iPod" has become part of the daily lexicon. When people honestly think of a portable media player or just a portable music device, the vast majority of folks off the bat think iPod. Microsoft hasn't done enough to make folks honestly switch off the iPod platform. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in Windows Weekly 118.
The iPod has become a platform. Its an almost Microsoftian like platform that allows Apple to show off how their ecosystem works. Everything is seemless. Developers are flocking to make apps, even in the face of an anti-trust investigations against Apple, AT&T, and Google. It has permeated almost every fabric of our society.
Yet Microsoft has done nothing to directly attack or counter the seamless environment, the worldwide availability, or give consumers a reason to switch. There isn't a match to AppleCare. When I walked into that Apple Store to replace my iPod Touch, that store was freaking busy. Off the bat, I could count 35 people in the Apple Store at 5:45 PM CDT. There was a police officer, some dude in street gear, businessmen, an older retired gentleman, and a lot of different people. After experiencing the ease of customer service, I can see why people don't want to trust Microsoft when dealing with Apple is so easy.